Minutes Transportation 01/14/2002
TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY BOARD
. FINAL MINUTES
JANUARY 14, 2002
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT
John Tayer, chair, Jim Rettew, Brant Liebmann, Jerry Wyss, Alison Richards
STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT
Tracy Winfree, Karla Harding (CDOT), Randall Rutsch, Stephany Westhusin, Noreen
Walsh and Robin Madel, secretary
AGENDA ITEM 1
Pre-meeting dinner with Colorado Department of Transportation
Karla Harding, from the Colorado Department of Transportation attended the dinner.
Harding and the TAB discussed the transportation funding situation for the Denver-
Boulder region. They also discussed the speed limit along U.S. 36. Harding said she had
• just received a report from her office about that issue and had not had a chance to read
through it.
AGENDA ITEM 2
Call to Order
John Tayer, chair, called the meeting to order at 6:08 p.m.
AGENDA ITEM 3
Approval of Minutes
Minutes from December 10, 2001 were approved as written.
Alison Richards motioned to approve the minutes as written.
Jim Rettew seconded.
The vote was 5-0, in favor of the motion.
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Final Minutes
January 14, 2002
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• AGENDA ITEM 4
General Citizen Participation
■ Kathleen Calongne, 243123 rd St., Boulder, spoke about signage for the NTMP
speed humps. She said that the signage doesn't conform with MUTCD guidelines,
which she feels is a risk to users and to the tax fund. She also discussed the possibility
of TAB members being sued for voting to "allow delay inducing devices and ignoring
the staff recommendation against those devices," on September 10, 2001. She said
that the vote negated years of negotiation with police and fire and said that the vote
could cause the TAB members problems with liability cases.
TAB Comments
Jim Rettew asked where signs were missing. Calongne said that there are signs at the
traffic circles but not at the speed humps. Tracy Winfree said that she would follow up on
the issue with Bill Cowem. Jerry Wyss pointed out that at the TAB meeting on
September 10 the Fire Department official said that the timing of the speed humps was
equivalent to that of a right turn and that much of the delay in emergency response time is
due to problems with the dispatch system.
Winfree said that she would follow up with the City Attorney's Office regarding the
• liability issue.
General Citizen Participation was closed.
AGENDA ITEM 5
Public hearing and consideration of a recommendation on the TEA-21 DRCOG TIP
submittal
Rutsch gave a brief presentation about the submittal. The city of Boulder has not received
the criteria or schedule from DRCOG yet so the list of projects is tentative. Rutsch said
that there is a six-week window between when packets are sent and the due date for the
proposal. He said he attended a meeting on January 11 and was hoping for project
selection criteria to be issue. The meeting turned out to be a pre-application meeting and
no criteria were provided.
TAB Questions
Jim Rettew asked why several projects, such as the Intermodal Center, were not included
in the list. Rutsch explained the various reasons the staff did not included those projects.
Rettew asked if the projects were listed in order. Rutsch said that the projects were scored
relative to other similar projects.
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Final Minutes
January 14, 2002
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• They asked questions about the mechanics of resubmitting multi-year projects. They also
asked about submission of the underpass projects for Bear Canyon Creek at Table Mesa,
Skunk Creek at 27th Way and the pedestrian underpass at 28th St. Each project has
strengths and weaknesses. Until the staff receives the criteria from DRCOG it is hard to
tell which project is more viable for funding.
Citizen Participation and TAB Comment
There was none.
Citizen Participation was closed
TAB Discussion
They discussed whether the staff should seek final approval of the prioritized list or
whether the final selection should be made by the staff upon receipt of the criteria.
Jerry Wyss asked about the process of generating projects. Rutsch said that the projects
come from Master Plans and Capital Improvement Programs.
Jim Rettew moved to support the staff recommendation for four of the projects but
not the Skunk Creek underpass at 27th Way, the Bear Creek underpass at Table
• Mesa or the pedestrian underpass at 28th Street. Upon receipt of criteria from
DRCOG, these three projects will be reevaluated and the staff will choose the
project that ranks the highest of the three.
Alison Richards seconded.
The vote was 5-0 in favor of the motion.
AGENDA ITEM 6
Matters From Staff:
• Randall Rutsch provided a briefing on the TMP 2001 and Jobs to Population Balance
Project. He said the project group is meeting on an every other week schedule. Rutsch
announced a study session with the City Council and the Planning Board on February
28, 2002 regarding the Jobs-to-Population Balance Project.
The staff is looking at accelerating the TMP schedule. The consultant will begin
modeling with three scenarios developed based on information received from
DRCOG. Work will being in February and will take approximately six months. The
current transportation model will be converted to TransCad and will allow analysis to
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January 14, 2002
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. be combined with GIS technology. The new modeling effort will be an improvement
over the current model, but will not be the most up-to-date program due to DRCOG's
delayed schedule. However, the new modeling approach should be able to be
completed in time to support both the TMP Update and the Jobs-to-Population
project.
• Tracy Winfree discussed the Travel Demand Management work program that is being
accelerated to support Jobs-to-Population and the TMP Update. A workshop was held
to evaluate the TDM program and the existing parking space ordinance. The TAB
will be involved with this accelerated project. Randall Rutsch discussed the TMP
study committee meeting. The next meeting will be on February 4, 2001.
• Tracy Winfree discussed moving the next TAB meeting to February 25, 2002 to
accommodate scheduling of meetings around the presentation of the TMP update to
the City Council. There is a TMP Study Group meeting on February 4, 2002 and the
next TAB meeting is scheduled for February 11, 2002. The TMP will be presented to
the City Council on March 19, 2002. Although the timing is tight, the TAB decided to
keep the meeting on February 11 as scheduled.
• Stephany Westhusin gave a briefing on 28th St. construction. Westhusin discussed the
two phases and how they will be scheduled and coordinated. She also discussed how
the projects would tie in to Broadway construction. The work will be done during
non-peak traffic hours and only one lane in each direction will have to be closed
because the street will not be completely torn up and rebuilt. There are different peak
hours in the north and southbound directions.
• Phase I of the 28th St. project (from Baseline to Arapahoe) will be completed during
the period that the Broadway Reconstruction Project is being done. Phase II of the
project will be completed after the Broadway project is completed.
Jerry Wyss praised the way that Rod Randall and the rest of the staff handled the
Table Mesa project and expressed his desire for 28th St. and Broadway to be managed
in a similar manner.
• Noreen Walsh gave a briefing on Broadway construction. She discussed the
scheduling and coordination and how the project will tie into the scheduling of the
28th St. construction.
Utility relocation will be completed in February. Construction will begin in April and
last for 12 months. Walsh is preparing a FAQ for the public. The staff is working on
the final design and construction plans.
Phase I of the 28th St. project will be performed while the Broadway project is being
performed. Phase 11 of 28th St. construction will be performed after the Broadway
project is completed. The project will be done during all hours and traffic will be
reduced to one lane in each direction because the street will be torn up and rebuilt.
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Final Minutes
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There will be a large public outreach effort and the public will be able to get
information from EvolutionBoulder.net. They discussed re-routing of buses. Walsh
said she is still working through the neighborhood suggestions with RTD.
They talked about the type of notification the public will be given to the public and
how flexible the signs can be. The department purchased several mobile electronic
signs that will announce the project. John Tayer asked to have a sign announcing the
countdown to completion of the project.
• Noreen Walsh gave a briefing on the Missing Sidewalk Links Program criteria,
prioritization method and outreach plan. The TAB had no comments on the criteria
that were listed but they discussed adding specific locations to the list. They also
discussed the prioritization method and how the projects would be grouped. In
general, the board seemed to favor alternative 2, which is to gain feedback on
prioritization from the neighborhoods then bringing the information back to the TAB.
The TAB requested that the board have an opportunity to review the criteria after the
community process and before a prioritized list is developed.
• Tracy Winfree said that the U.S. 36 speed limit issue would be table until the
following month based on the conversation with Karla Harding about the issue at the
pre-meeting dinner.
• Tracy Winfree asked a TAB member that could speak on the Broadway
Reconstruction issue as it relates to bike paths to attend the City council meeting on
January 15, 2002 (the following night). Alison Richards said that she would go to
represent the TAB.
• • Tracy Winfree announced the dates and times for the City Council retreat.
• Tracy Winfree discussed the legislative update that Amy Mueller sent to the TAB.
She said that Mueller would send updates to the TAB on a regular basis.
Matters from the Board
■ Brant Liebmann asked about the citizen comment regarding board members being
sued. Winfree said she would follow up with the City Attorney's Office and get back
to the TAB.
■ Jerry Wyss discussed the bus stop that is across Broadway from NIST. He said the
stop is in bad shape because some work that was started but not completed has caused
a tripping hazard. Winfree said the work was to be completed by RTD and she will
follow up with them to determine why the work hasn't been completed yet.
■ Jim Rettew said he saw a news report about the red light and speed-on-green cameras.
The report indicated that staff had intended to install cameras throughout Boulder.
Winfree said that she did not believe that was the plan and that she would put in a
request to Mike Sweeney to provide additional information.
■ Alison Richards said that she read an article in the newspaper that said that global
sales of electric bikes were down significantly in 2001, compared with those in 1999.
The article did not say why.
■ Je= Wyss said that he met the alternative mode coordinator for the city of Denver
and recommended inviting her to a regional outreach dinner.
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January 14, 2002
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■ John Tam asked the other TAB members if they thought the pre-dinner meetings are
i working out. They said yes but they want more time so they agreed to start the
meetings at 5:15. Everyone agreed to make a point of being on time to the meetings.
Jerry Wyss requested a biography or some background information on the person
attending the dinner.
AGENDA ITEM 7
Discussion of Future Meeting Agenda
• Phil Greenwald from the city of Longmont will attend the pre-meeting, regional
outreach dinner in February.
• TMP Update - discussion in February, recommendation with a public hearing in
March.
• North 28th St CEAP - briefing in February, recommendation in March
• Pedestrian Crossing Demonstration data - presented in March when the Broadway
data will be available.
• U.S. 36 speed limit - presented in February.
Next Meeting
February 11, 2002, 6:00 p.m., Transportation Advisory Board regular meeting, at the City
• Council Chambers.
AGENDA ITEM 8
Adjournment
Jim Rettew motioned to adjourn the meeting.
Jerry Wyss seconded.
The vote was 5-0 in favor of the motion.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:20 p.m.
Minutes approved on
By
Transportat n Adviso U oard
Final Minu s
January 14, 2002
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